Billionaire opposition politician, Bidzina Ivanishvili, said it would become possible “to more effectively protect each of our supporters from political repressions” after establishment of his political coalition with relevant party structures throughout the country.

“Meanwhile, we request everyone for whom achieving success peacefully through elections is important to show calm, maximum restraint and not to yield to possible provocations,” reads a statement released by Ivanishvili’s press office on January 24.

The Report of the Week, a program on Maestro TV, reported on Sunday, that about dozen of local residents, including a 17-year-old boy, were beaten and verbally insulted allegedly by the Interior Ministry employees when they started chanting pro-Ivanishvili slogans at an outdoor concert in Sachkhere marking so called old style New Year on the night of January 13. Sachkhere district in western Georgian is Ivanishvili's native region.

Ivanishvili’s statement condemned “with indignation” the incident and called on the law enforcement officers “to respect their professional duties and not to follow illegal orders.”

“Time will come soon when everyone will be held responsible not before any political force, but before the law; not before any political leader, but before free court. Do not believe in deliberately spread rumors as if you will be a target of political repressions after the change of government. On the contrary, we intend to change the government through elections in order to set you free from political pressure,” the statement reads.